Ukraine war in focus
Hope for negotiations inspires stock market
02/25/2022 10:34 p.m
The US stock exchanges rose again at the end of the week. Investors see the fact that Russia is willing to hold talks with Ukraine as a positive signal.
Hopes for a possible solution to the Ukraine war drove prices up on Wall Street towards the end of the week. According to the Kremlin, Russia is ready to negotiate with Ukraine. The Ukrainian President Selenskyj had previously signaled his willingness to hold talks. However, Putin’s condition for talks is said to be Ukraine’s surrender. According to estimates from the trade, it could also become critical when it comes to Russia’s demands for the demilitarization of Ukraine.
the Dow Jones Index gained 2.5 percent. For the S&P 500 was up 2.2 percent. the Nasdaq Composite showed a plus of 1.6 percent. The 2,729 (Thursday: 1,941) price winners faced 635 (1,482) losers. 113 (133) titles closed unchanged. Nevertheless, the situation remains tense, which should continue to lead to volatility on the stock exchanges.
“Given the strongly negative sentiment, the market seems to be interpreting the Ukraine crisis as a systemic risk,” said Florian Ielpo, head of macro at Lombard Odier. However, it is important to remember that geopolitical systemic risk events such as Brexit, the North Korean crisis and the US Trump election have all been short-lived. A long-term bear market is not usually triggered by geopolitical unrest, so Lombard Odier believes the correction will be temporary.
Brent back below $100
The dollar gave back part of the previous day’s gains with the latest developments. the dollar index fell 0.6 percent. Oil prices also came back slightly, Brent was back below the $100 a barrel mark, which had been exceeded the day before for the first time in seven years. Oil market fundamentals point to further price increases, with the prospect of prices reaching $115 a barrel or more, according to RBC Capital Markets. Analysts forecast that Brent will average $101 in 2022 and $98 in 2023.
Other safe havens such as bonds or gold were not in demand. The yield on 10-year debt was little changed at 1.97 percent. The price of gold slipped more clearly below the $1,900 a troy ounce mark.
The focus was also on the monetary policy course of the US Federal Reserve. After expectations of an interest rate hike of 50 basis points fell again at the March meeting due to the conflict in Ukraine, Fed Governor Christopher Waller is open to a key interest rate hike of half a percentage point in March. The prerequisite is that economic data show signs of an acceleration in price pressure over the next few weeks.
Beyond Meat and Foot Locker crash
The published US economic data were convincing. Incoming orders for durable goods increased twice as much as expected in January. Personal spending and income for January were also better than economists had forecast. The Uni Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for February also came in above expectations at second reading.
In terms of individual values, the share lost intuitive 2.0 percent. The software company’s full-year outlook was slightly below analysts’ expectations. In contrast, the company exceeded the recently revised sales forecast for the second fiscal quarter.
The shares of Beyond Meat fell 9.2 percent after the company reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss. A disappointing outlook left the stock of Foot Locker drop by around 30 percent.